“On The Road” (Summation)

Magee Marsh/ Metzger Marsh/ Ottawa N.W.R.

As I sit here gathering my thoughts on how I can best sum up this birding trip you realize that it’s not just about the birds, it’s the people you meet along the way that can make a good trip into a great birding trip. Meeting Rick and Allan while I was there was a treat, however having some of the Amish youth speak to you was a surprise. This close knit group are great birders and can be seen all along the boardwalk as a family. Then there was Sally and her mother who I meet at Metzger Marsh where we birded for a couple of hours and then meet up again the next morning at the boardwalk. This common bond we have is the catalyst that starts new friendships that can last a long time. I love this aspect of birding. Birders love nothing more than to talk about birds with other birders.

Except for a brief thundershower in the morning on my last day, the weather was nothing but beautiful. The crowds were smaller than what you’d expect to see when the festival was going on. Getting a parking spot close to the East end entrance to the boardwalk was never a problem in case you had to run back to your car for anything. This played out on a couple of occasions when I would leave the boardwalk and walk a few hundreds yards to the Estuary Trail. I’d pick up my spotting scope on the way since you’ll need it as you look out over the estuary.

Birders along the Estuary Trail, with Lake Erie on their right.

2 views overlooking the estuary at Ottawa NWR

The channel of water in the fore ground links directly to Lake Erie. The water is pretty shallow here because as you looked out over the water you could see the backs of Carp break the surface.

The birds were great as usual and timing and weather can determine what you see. Also with the warmer than average Spring the ground cover was thick which hide birds that you would normally see. Thrushes which will forage on the ground were difficult to pick up. One of the surprise birds that I wasn’t able to find were the Ovenbird. A Warbler species that I’ve seen regularly in years past, not this time though.

Yellow Warbler was the dominate species here. They are everywhere you go, either on the boardwalk or at Ottawa or Metzger. Become familiar with it’s call or it will drive you crazy as you try to ID a Warbler you hear only to find out that it’s another Yellow Warbler.

If you visit here and not see any Yellow Warblers, then something is seriously wrong either with you or Mother Nature.

Prothonotary Warblers are friendly, aggressive, and easily photographed. Besides being a beauty to behold, they have no fear when it comes to us upright walking humanoids.

Most of all the other Warbler species were difficult to photograph since they were feeding mostly in the tops of the trees. Even the photographers with their big rigs were having a problem getting onto the bird and squeezing of a shot. If the bird wasn’t out in the open, they were out of luck.

On the last day we had a proliferation of Cape May Warblers near the observation deck near the East end of the boardwalk. My favorite and most beautiful Warbler species, wouldn’t you agree?

Black Poll Warbler

Female Baltimore Oriole

This male Baltimore Oriole was as close I you’d normally see while here. These tree top dwellers were always heard, or seen as a orange flash before landing into the thickest portion of the tree. A striking bird.

I always make a trip to Ottawa NWR since it’s a fabulous place to bird, and being right next door to Magee it would be foolish not to go. While having lunch you can watch the Purple Martins as they put on their aerial display.

Another one of my favorites, a Canada warbler showing off it’s trademark black necklace.

The omnipresent American Redstart

Remember this area just isn’t a jumping off point for bird migration. Nesting birds are very common throughout all the parks and preserves along the lake, like this American Robin.

Black-throated Blue warbler

As with all trips they must come to and end, and preparations need to be made for next year. As I reflect on this trip I would have to give it an A+, even though my original plans was to be there for another day. Well there’s always next year. So now here’s the list of all the bird species seen with 24 species of  the Warblers.

1. Rock Pigeon
2. American Robin
3. European Starling
4. House Finch
5. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
6. American Finch
7. Northern Cardinal
8. Common Grackle
9. Red-winged Blackbird
10. Killdeer
11. Semipalmated Plover
12. Black-bellied Plover
13. Veery
14. Swainson’s Thrush
15. Gray-cheeked Thrush
16. Hermit Thrush
17. Eastern Kingbird
18. Eastern Phoebe
19. Eastern Wood Pewee
20. Least Flycatcher
21. Willow Flycatcher
22. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
23. Tree Swallow
24. Barn Swallow
25. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
26. Purple Martin
27. Lincoln Sparrow
28. Song Sparrow
29. Field Sparrow
30. Chipping Sparrow
31. Indigo Bunting
32. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
33. Mourning Dove
34. Canada Goose
35. Mallard
36. Red-breasted Merganser
37. Wood Duck
38. Ruddy Duck
39. Least Sandpiper
40. Semipalmated Sandpiper
41. Upland Sandpiper
42. Ruddy Turnstone
43. Dunlin
44. Great Egret
45. Snowy Egret
46. Black-crowned Night Heron
47. Green heron
48. Great Blue Heron
49. Short-billed Dowitcher
50. Lesser Yellowleg
51. American Coot
52. Common Gallinule
53. Herring Gull
54. Ring-billed Gull
55. Forester’s Tern
56. Common Tern
57. Black Tern
58. Double-creasted Cormorant
59. American White Pelican
60. Pied-billed Grebe
61. Trumpeter Swan
62. Sandhill Crane
63. Bald Eagle
64. Red-tailed Hawk
65. Turkey Vulture
66. Eastern Screech Owl
67. Great Horned Owl
68. Red-bellied Woodpecker
69. Downy Woodpecker
70. Northern Flicker
71. Blue Jay
72. American Woodcock
73. Scarlet Tanager
74. Baltimore Oriole
75. Orchard Oriole
76. House Wren
77. Marsh Wren
78. Blue-headed Vireo
79. Red-eyed Vireo
80. Philadelphia Vireo
81. Warbling Vireo
82. White-eyed Vireo
83. Black-capped Chickadee
84. White-breasted Nuthatch
85. Eastern Meadowlark
86. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
87. Black-billed Cuckoo
88. Gray Catbird
89. Yellow Warbler
90. Yellow-rumped Warbler
91. Nashville Warbler
92. Tennessee Warbler
93. Northern Parula
94. Magnolia Warbler
95. Wilson’s Warbler
96. Canada Warbler
97. Chestnut-sided Warbler
98. Black-throated Green Warbler
99. Cape May Warbler
100. American Redstart
101. Prairie Warbler
102. Black Poll Warbler
103. Prothonotary Warbler
104. Bay-breasted Warbler
105. Blackburnian Warbler
106. Yellow-breasted Chat
107. Black and White Warbler
108. Black-throated Blue Warbler
109. Yellow-throated Warbler
110. Mourning Warbler
111. Connecticut Warbler
112. Common Yellowthroat

“On The Road” – Day 2

Sometimes if I had no luck, I’d have no luck at all. Once again I’ve missed out on 2 life birds, one being a Yellow-headed Blackbird seen at the boardwalk, and  the other being a Connecticut Warbler also seen on the boardwalk while I was at Metzger Marsh. AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH.

Now that I’m over my fit of rage at the birding Gods, today was pretty good with warm temps. and a nice breeze. I made the usual stop at all the places with good birding at all. Despite the fact that I’m suffering from Warbler neck and eye fatigue I’m holding out. A couple of times today I pulled the bird-mobile under a shady tree and closed my eyes for a few minutes before heading out again.

One of my first stops today was back to see if I could re-locate the Upland Sandpiper. It took only a few minutes before I was able to spot.

This is a little better than yesterdays effort, but still not very good.

The boardwalk was pretty much the same as yesterday with light traffic with plenty of room despite all the big camera rigs. Some of the better pictures of birds will probably be an improvement than me rambling on.

I was really surprised how well this Prothonotary Warbler picture turned out.

Yellow Warbler

Green Heron

How often do you get this close to an American Woodcock.

American Redstart

One of the newer additions to the Magee Marsh and Ottawa NWR is a trail that links the 2 parks together by a trail that is at the Eastern portion of the parking lot. This trial dips into the woods for a short bit before re-emerging onto a maintenance road that heads to the estuary. At the end of the road was a grad student from Ohio State who was set up for some bird banding. He’s working on the migratory habits of American Redstarts and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

A immature Screech Owl found along the estuary trail.

At Metzger Marsh my intent was to get a few photos of some of the wading birds and maybe a Common Gallinule.

Semipalmated Plover

The Dunlins were everywhere at Metzger Marsh, and the next 2 pictures will show a mature and a immature Dunlin.

Mature Dunlin

Immature Dunlin

Common Gallinule (a.k.a. Moorhen)

A nice treat was a fly over of 3 Black Terns as I was on my way out. I did take a picture, but it looks like any other picture of some birds flying over.

Back at Magee Marsh and the boardwalk, I saw some Terns fly and land on the beach. Grabbing my spotting scope I was able to snap off a couple of pictures of these Common Terns and another surprise, a Ruddy Turnstone.

Common Terns

One more tip from a couple of ladies I meet at Metzger was some Black-bellied Plovers were feeding in this field along Krause Road, which bisects with Stange Road, where the Upland was seen.

Black-bellied Plovers

Despite missing out on 2 life birds, here’s my list for the day.

1. Rock Dove
2. House Finch
3. Field Sparrow
4. Song Sparrow
5. White-crowned Sparrow
6. American Robin
7. Common Grackle
8. Black-capped Chickadee
9. Mourning Dove
10. Northern Cardinal
11. Red-winged Blackbird
12. Chipping Sparrow
13. Red-tailed Hawk
14. Upland Sandpiper
15. Black-bellied Plover
16. Horned Lark
17. Yellow-breasted Chat
18. Indigo Bunting
19. Trumpeter Swan
20. Great Blue Heron
21. Great Egret
22. Green Heron
23. Canada Goose
24. Brown-headed Cowbird
25. Baltimore Oriole
26. Sandhill Crane
27. Eastern Wood Pewee
28. Tree Swallow
29. Mallard
30. Yellow Warbler
31. Magnolia Warbler
32. Blackburnian warbler
33. Black and White Warbler
34. Canada Warbler
35. Palm Warbler
36. Cape May Warbler
37. Blackpoll Warbler
38. Bay Breasted Warbler
39. Black-throated Blue warbler
40. Black-throated Green Warbler
41. Tennessee warbler
42. Nashville Warbler
43. Prothonoatry warbler
44. American Redstart
45. Blue Jay
46. Red-eyed Vireo
47. Warbling Vireo
48. White-eyed Vireo
49. Gray Catbird
50. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
51. Northern Parula
52. Chestnut-sided Warbler
53. Great Horned Owl
54. Eastern Screech Owl
55. Wilson’s Warbler
56. Black-billed Cuckoo
57. American White Pelicans
58. Forester’s Tern
59. Common Tern
60. Ruddy Turnstone
61. Herring Gull
62. Red-breasted Merganser
63. House Wren
64. Red-bellied Woodpecker
65. Eastern Kingbird
66. Eastern Phoebe
67. Yellow-throated Warbler
68. Common Yellowthroat
69. Veery
70. Hermit Thrush
71. Killdeer
72. Semipalmated Plover
73. Dunlin
74. Semipalmated Sandpiper
75. Least Sandpiper
76. Purple Martin
77. American Goldfinch
78. Red-bellied Woodpecker
79. Downy Woodpecker
80. Northern Flicker
81. Chimney Swift
82. Turkey Vulture
83. Common Gallinule
84. Barn Swallow
85. Common Coot
86. Black Tern
87. American Woodcock

“On The Road”

Magee Marsh/ Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge/ Metzger Marsh

Is it just me or is 3 am the normal time for birders to get up? Considering how excited I was to go on my abbreviated birding vacation I have to ask myself what is sleep. I was out the door at 4 am with my to-go cup and thermos full of java trying to put a dent into the darkness as I traveled Northward to my own birding Mecca.

One cause of all the excitement was the discovery of a Uplands Sandpiper real close to Ottawa NWR. This comes from a very reliable source and worth checking out before hitting the boardwalk. However before I tell too much about this bird, let’s return later to this story line.

With the festival just ending the boardwalk was rather quiet without all the crowds which made it enjoyable to say the least.

Granted it wasn’t like this throughout the entire boardwalk, there was your usual congestion when something good was showing itself, like a Prothonotary Warbler.

I wish this one turned out a little better, but I’ll try again tomorrow.

I wasn’t on the boardwalk more than 20 minutes when a friendly face showed up besides me, Rick Asamoto. I’ve birded with Rick on a number of occasions and being up here is going to make this day extra special. He has a very keen eye which comes into play when we go and try to re-locate the Upland Sandpiper.

Throughout the day we traveled between all 3 parks trying to add to our already bulging bird count . While at Metzger we had a great surprise as we were walking on the causeway that separates the lake from the marsh we noticed 2 Ruddy Turnstones foraging on a thin strip of sand and stones along the waters edge.

It was prior to our arrival to Metzger Marsh that I made the decision to turn onto Stange Road, which runs into Rt.2. It’s at this intersection that the Uplands was last seen the evening before. It was Rick and another birder that posted the sighting on the Ohio Listserv, and why I got so excited. This was my second stop here today, striking out on my first attempt, however this time Rick sighted it along the grassy edge that ran parallel to the road. Hoorah for me, new life bird!

Here is crappy photographic proof of my new life bird. I would say that I would go back tomorrow to see if I could get a better shot, but while I was here trying to get this picture the farmer was working the field with this tractor and some other implements that tear up the soil. In a cloud of dust it was gone.

I think this is a Warbling Vireo.

With 2 more days left and very little sleep, I’m going to cut this post short a little. However here is today’s list of birds for those keeping count.

1. American Robin
2. House Sparrow
3. Lincoln Sparrow
4. Song Sparrow
5. White-crowned Sparrow
6. Indigo Bunting
7. Canada Goose
8. Mallard
9. Pied-billed Grebe
10. Killdeer
11. Semipalmated Plover
12. Great Blue Heron
13. Green Heron
14. Black-crowned Night Heron
15. Great Egret
16. Snowy Egret
17. Trumpeter Swan
18. Red-winged Blackbird
19. Mourning Dove
20. Least Flycatcher
21. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
22. Short-billed Dowitcher
23. Dunlin
24. Least Sandpiper
25. Ruddy Turnstone
26. Common Coot
27. Moorhen
28. Lesser Yellowleg
29. Barn Swallow
30. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
31. Tree Swallow
32. Common Grackle
33. Common Yellowthroat
34. Yellow Warbler
35. Eastern Kingbird
36. Eastern Wood Pewee
37. Eastern Phoebe
38. Baltimore Oriole
39. Orchard Oriole
40. Prairie Warbler
41. Blue Jay
42. Cape May Warbler
43. Red-eyed Vireo
44. Northern Cardinal
45. American Redstart
46. Blackpoll Warbler
47. Northern Parula
48. Blackburnian Warbler
49. Bay-breasted Warbler
50. Prothonotary Warbler
51. Gray Catbird
52. Tennessee Warbler
53. Black-throated Green Warbler
54. Magnolia Warbler
55. Chestnut-sided Warbler
56. Scarlet Tanager
57. Nashville Warbler
58. American Woodcock
59. Eastern Screech Owl
60. Yellow-rumped Warbler
61. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
62. Cedar Waxwing
63. Veery
64. Swainson Thrush
65. House Wren
66. Marsh Wren
67. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
68. Wilson’s Warbler
69. Ring-billed Gull
70. Forster’s Tern
71. Bald Eagle
72. Black-capped Chickadee
73. Red-bellied Woodpecker
74. Turkey Vulture
75. Eastern Meadowlark
76. Ruddy Duck
77. American Goldfinch
78. Palm Warbler
79. Canada Warbler
80. Brown-headed Cowbird

“On The Road” # 317

4 AM, Sunday morning. The only people with half a brain who should be up are birders and the guy who delivers your morning paper. The best part, waking up at 3 AM and not falling back to sleep. It was the anticipation and excitement of the day that was the primary motivator as I shuffled down our dark hallway to the kitchen to switch on the prepared coffee maker. After washing away the nights’ accumulation of cobwebs, it was a quick breakfast and double check of my gear. Then it was out the door by 5 AM to meet Jon in the parking lot where I work so we could drive together to Crawfordsville Indiana. This small town on the edge of the prairie is farm country. Mile after mile of flat, fertile land as far as the eye could see. Our job today is to find what the locals call “The Burnout” or “The Burns”.

Clint Murray, our contact person for the past couple of weeks, is the 75 year old owner of this 80 acre parcel of birding heaven. At a pit-stop 20 minutes out, Jon gives Clint a call and lets him know were about to arrive. He’ll meet us there, he tells us.. At this point Jon pulls out an envelope with directions written on it. Now, when directions include the phrase “turn right at the giant grain elevator”, and the names of the roads are a series of numbers followed by a letter, then I say welcome to rural America.

As we pulled onto a gravel road Clint passes us while Jon and myself gaze in wonder at the largest flock of American Golden Plovers we’ve ever seen. I estimated 125, and Jon thought more like 175. So I split the difference when I reported it later onto eBird. Clint is going to join us this morning and assist us in finding the Longspurs, which is like finding a needle in a haystack. With this strong Southwest flow, and strong winds, there are chances these birds might not be here, despite the fact that 11 were seen just yesterday.

Now Clint knows this land and what to look for, so Jon and myself put ourselves into his hands. Clint has put so much time and energy into making this piece of land as wildlife friendly as possible we know we have the right person for the job.

Don’t forget to click on the picture to enlarge it.

These are 2 pictures of the “Burns”. As you can tell there is not much here, and trying to find small birds the size of a Sparrow will prove difficult.

We pull off the gravel road and park behind Clint then begin to unload. Clint explains that we need to move slowly and be careful. Longspurs will feed with their heads down and sometimes they won’t flush till you’re right on top of them. We make slow progress across the field, stopping to scope around and to listen. Then we would repeat the same process about 10-20 yards further away. We did this several more times without any success, till I noticed 6-7 small birds fly in and land in a clump of taller, brown grass about 20 yards away. We all trained our spotting scopes on the spot for several minutes till Clint suggested we move to get a different angle. He was encouraged that we might have some Longspurs since they hadn’t flushed yet, which might mean they were feeding. Again we changed positions for a better angle on this clump of grass when Jon called out that he had one near a small, fuzzy type clump of grass near the edge of the taller grass.

Notice the field marks on this bird. The buffy breast, and black triangle on the face with the white cheek patch, with the white shoulder patch which is very noticeable on this bird.

Then we had 2 males in breeding plumage.

I couldn’t take pictures fast enough as the Longspurs foraged along the ground.

It was about this time that Jon and Clint decided to retrieve their camera gear from the vehicles since the birds were being so cooperative. My job was to stay behind and not lose them. Well I did my job, however when they returned with their cameras, they spooked and flew across the road never to be re-located again. However I was able to get a few pictures of both a male and female and one of a female alone.

If you’d like to see more pictures of these birds just click on the “More Pictures” caption under the 3 photos on the right side of the home page. This will take you to my Flickr Photostream page.

After the Smith’s Longspurs left we decided to check out more of the Clint’s property. We noticed a small sky pool nearby with a few wading birds, however further we came upon a larger pool which you couldn’t see from where were originally standing. The land sloped down ever so gently into this depression which held water. It’s here that we spotted more wading birds. Clint bragged about how many different wading bird species that has been found on his land. I don’t remember the total number (help me here Jon) but it was impressive.

Lesser Yellowleg

Solitary Sandpiper

Greater Yellowleg

After spending several hours there we decided to leave for the long drive home. As we were driving out we re-located the flock of American Golden Plovers.

Can you see any? Oh, they’re there alright.

Here is a bad shot of one of the many males in breeding plumage. At this point the wind is howling, and holding the tripod with the scope mounted on top and get a steady picture was proving to be impossible.

Female American Golden Plover. You can see how well they blend into the surrounding field.

We both left with new life birds. Life is good!

Notable birds for the day include:

1. Smith’s Longspur
2. Ring-necked Pheasant
3. American Pipits
4. American Golden Plover
5. Song Sparrow
6. White-throated Sparrow
7. Chipping Sparrow
8. Savannah Sparrow
9. Mourning Dove
10. American Robin
11. Northern Cardinal
12. Northern Parula
13. Common Crow
14. Wilson’s Snipe
15. Northern Harrier
16. Turkey Vulture
17. Barn Swallow
18. Tree Swallow
19. Red-winged Blackbird
20. Common Grackle
21. Carolina Chickadee
22. Pectoral Sandpiper
23. Solitary Sandpiper
24. Lesser Yellowleg
25. Greater Yellowleg
26. Rock Pigeon
27. Killdeer
28. Brown-headed Cowbird
29. American Goldfinch
30. Mallard
31. Horned Lark
32. Eastern Meadowlark
33. Canada Goose
34. Great Blue Heron
35. Cooper’s Hawk
36. Red-tailed Hawk
37. Northern Shoveler
38. Green-winged Teal

“On The Road” (and this time we mean it)

Due to circumstances beyond our control, and the fact that no reports of Smith’s Longspurs were evident, our trip to Indiana was put on hold that was planned 2 weeks ago. And with just a few days left in the week, excitement is building as we prepare ourselves for our trip. Reports have been postive with sightings coming in from a very reliable source just a few days ago. The Smith’s Longspur will be life birds for both Jon and myself so wish us luck on our quest. A full report with pictures, hopefully, will be forthcoming.

“On The Road”

Remember the old T.V. show “In Search Of”, hosted by Leonard Nimoy. Every week this documentary style series would roam the Earth in search of Big Foot, the Loch Ness Monster, and other strange oddities.

This Saturday your “On The Road” team of Jon Frodge and your truly will be traveling the back roads of Indiana in search of the Smith’s Longspur. These small birds are right in the middle of migration on their way to the tundra of Canada, and the window of opportunity is very small to find these birds. Very rarely do these birds find their way into Ohio, however the further West you go the chances improve, so Indiana is our destination.

A full report will be forthcoming, so stay tuned. Wish us luck.